BOS / DOJ News Updates

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=fullstoryheading>BetOnSports CE to be electronically tagged</TD></TR><TR><TD>Published in: Legalbrief Today
Date: Thu 03 August 2006
Category: Criminal
Issue No: 1635

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=425 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=bottom align=left background=http://www.legalbrief.co.za/layout/lb/images/dotted_grey.gif height=1> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The former BetOnSports CE David Carruthers (48) is likely to be released on $1m bail soon under a deal with the US Government that would allow him to live in the midwestern city of St Louis until his trial for organising illegal gambling starts, according to a report in The Guardian.

This is only on condition that he is electronically tagged. Carruthers is one of eight people connected to BetonSports who have appeared in Missouri's Federal Court to enter pleas of not guilty in relation to charges of fraud, racketeering and unlawful gaming. Carruthers is the only defendant still in custody and the UK businessman's associates say he is not doing well. One said: ‘He looks like a beaten man - not physically beaten but just beaten down’. Meanwhile, in a long list of arraignments, bail has been granted to Lori Beth Kaplan Multz and Neil Kaplan - siblings of Gary Kaplan, who is accused of masterminding the BetonSports gambling empire and is thought to be on the run either in Costa Rica or Israel.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=20060803081240725

<TABLE width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]PartyGaming buys Gamebookers
<!--Date here-->Thursday, August 03 2006
by Deirdre McArdle[/FONT]
</TD><TD align=middle>[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]

<!-- X -->[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>[SIZE=-1]PartyGaming has acquired Gamebookers for EUR102 million as it tries to reduce its dependency on the US market, where the future of the online gaming sector is unclear. [/SIZE]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The acquisition is the first major deal by incoming CEO Mitch Garber since he joined PartyGaming in April this year. Under the terms of the deal, PartyGaming will acquire the business and assets of Gamebookers, which provides online sports betting in 12 languages and has more than 250,000 registered customers in 140 countries.

In July, PartyGaming reported a better-than-expected 49 percent jump in second-quarter revenue. At the time it said it will aggressively step up its expansion plans outside its core US market, which has been in the news recently following the indictment of David Carruthers, CEO of BetonSports, as well as several others, on charges of racketeering and conspiracy. On the back of the arrest, BetonSports fired Carruthers, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

http://www.electricnews.net/frontpage/news-9757830.html

That electronic tag ? Is it dangerous to wear during a thunderstorm or is it grounded?

How do you take a shower or whatever with an electronic tag ? Why not just put a guard outside his hotel door?

Whoson1st said:

How do you take a shower or whatever with an electronic tag ? Why not just put a guard outside his hotel door?

Click to expand...

I'm no electrical engineer but I assume it's like my shower radio

Whoson1st said:

How do you take a shower or whatever with an electronic tag ? Why not just put a guard outside his hotel door?

Click to expand...

very carefully

When I had my ankle bracelet, you could shower just fine, but could not submerge it

aceduecetrey said:

When I had my ankle bracelet, you could shower just fine, but could not submerge it

Click to expand...

I thought they made yours into a cock ring?

Would have been easier, because I know it has been a long time since I had that "submerged".......

t-12 months btw

TAKING NO CHANCES - EXECS LOOK AT EXTRADITION INSURANCE

BetonSports case puts the spotlight on the long arm of US law

Reuters reports that recent events such as the extradition of UK bankers wanted in connection with the Enron case in the USA, and the BetonSports failure to appear at a criminal hearing in St Louis this week have resulted in an upsurge of interest in extradition insurance.

The news agency says that the issues have graphically illustrated to British businessmen how long the arm of U.S. law can reach and prompted firms to rethink the cover they buy to protect their managers against lawsuits, known as directors and officers (D&O) insurance.

"The 'NatWest Three' case has served as a rude awakening to some companies," said Joe Fernandez, D&O product manager for ACE European Group Ltd. He says that a number of FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 UK companies who had previously not bought D&O cover are rethinking their decision in the light of recent events.

Other firms which had bought cover, but had opted for cheaper cover that excluded the cost of lawsuits from the United States, are now looking to upgrade their policies, as they have been forced to reassess their previous assumption that they had little to fear from the U.S. authorities.

The offence of "wire fraud" -- misconduct committed using the telephone or fax -- means that businessmen don't even have to be on U.S. soil for their actions to come under the scrutiny of the U.S. authorities, Reuters reports.

"There is a rapid learning curve going on in UK boardrooms about wire fraud," said Nick Foord-Kelcey, European D&O Practice Leader for insurance broker Marsh .

Insurers have responded by rewriting their policies in recent weeks to spell out they cover the legal costs in extradition requests.

They have also soothed clients' anxieties, caused by the likelihood of BetonSports former CEO Carruthers' million dollar bail, by reassuring them their policies include the cost of bail bonds. Insurers are bracing themselves for a jump in claims from more extradition requests, following an Anglo-U.S. extradition treaty in 2003, primarily aimed at making it easier to move terror suspects to America, but which has been used by U.S. prosecutors to target suspected white-collar criminals (see previous Online-Casinos.com and InfoPowa report).

There are currently 23 British people who are the subject of extradition applications relating to white-collar crime, said Clair Collins, Marsh's UK D&O Practice Leader.

And a surge in the number of extraditions may not only push up the cost of insurance for company executives, but firms may need to buy substantially more cover, insurers warn.

Protracted extradition battles could eat up most of the money available under policies, leaving little, or even nothing, left in the kitty to pay lawyers' fees in the actual trial.

"There's a very real threat the D&O cover could be exhausted by extradition appeals," said Fernandez.

Adding a footnote to the US legal issue was news from the Sportsman newspaper this week that the son of BetonSports chairman Clive Parritt has become engaged to an American girl in Cleveland, Ohio. The report commented that if the wedding is scheduled for the bride's home town there could be a problem in Parritt appearing for the festivities.

"Marriage is an institution but not, Clive hopes, a correctional one!" the journalist pithily commented.

Parritt and other board directors at BetonSports, such as Olympic gold-medalist Lord Glentoran, haven't been indicted. So in theory, Parritt could travel to the US. But in a country that considers an online flutter more sinful that invading a sovereign country, who would take the risk for a wedding? the publication asks.

The US is already muttering darkly about the directors not bothering to show up for this week's hearings. It could mean they're in contempt and risk arrest once on US soil. Asked by the Sportsman newspaper about the wedding, Parritt said: "I don't know the exact arrangements. No wedding date and venue has been set yet."


http://www.online-casinos.com/news/news2642.asp

<TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD class=contentheading width="100%">Online gambling in USA still on the radar for Party Gaming 20060804 </TD><TD class=buttonheading align=right width="100%">javascript:void window.open('http:/...=640,height=480,directories=no,location=no');</TD><TD class=buttonheading align=right width="100%"> </TD><TD class=buttonheading align=right width="100%">javascript:void window.open('http:/...=400,height=250,directories=no,location=no');</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD class=createdate vAlign=top colSpan=2>Friday, 04 August 2006 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>Whatever the House had to say about online gambling legislation hasn't dampened Party Gaming's determination to entertain America. Experts are divided on the issue: some see no chance of the Senate giving the online gambling bill their attention or their vote, while others are screaming from the rooftops that the Armageddon of Internet Gaming is upon us. But as far as Party Gaming (the group that owns Party Poker, Party Casino and Party Bingo) is concerned, politics and gambling will have to agree to disagree. At least until any gambling laws are actually passed and signed by the President.

Even though the Senate could soon ratify the House's decision, and the BeonSports debacle shocked casino executives everywhere, the only plans Party Gaming are willing to alter are their travel itineraries. Their marketing and advertising strategies still include a strong focus on a USA online gambling audience, with a focus on brand building for Party Casino.

It must be a bit of a downer to have to exclude any travel plans that include a USA stopover but Party Gaming aren't fazed in the slightest. Though they've assured everyone that they have "no imminent plans" to visit any of the cities or states in North America, they've also made it clear that they're happy to consult attorneys in the event that they do need to visit America for some reason.

The USA has long been understood to have fuelled the majority of exponential growth in the online gaming industry. Online casinos must then naturally have some concern over losing more than half of their regular casino players - if online gambling is prohibited, that is. Though Party Gaming's PartyPoker brand is well known and could probably sustain itself without any new players, the PartyCasino brand needs advertising. And Party Gaming want a good deal of the eyeballs that see their ads to belong to Americans.

Party Gaming CEO, Mitch Garber, wants to create a strong branding ad campaign for their online casino offering, giving them the ability to properly diversify beyond poker, with other casino games like blackjack and slots. Though Garber acknowledges the BetonSports situation, he is going ahead with "legal marketing in the USA through internet, tv, radio, newspapers and sponsorships". Party Casino launched in October 2005 and Garber looks forward to growing the brand to a level matching the success of PartyPoker.

With 76% of their revenue being generated from the USA, who could blame Garber and his other board members for showing courage and determination in the face of adversity. His shareholders certainly won't. And neither will his casino players!
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>http://www.gamblemore.com/gambling-news-blog/latest-news/online-gambling-in-usa-still-on-the-radar-for-party-gaming-20060804/

BetOnSports - This Makes No Sense

August 4, 2006
If BetOnSports is claiming they haven't been properly served, then why did they ever close?
Now if that this is their position, what are they waiting for to open?

An engraved invitation?
Furthermore, BOS has no case for judicial malpractice. How can they say they haven't been served, yet the TRO caused them damage because they complied with it?

They can't have it both ways. Even if BetonSports were properly served and complied, they have no case for judicial malpractice. What's the malpractice? In the eyes of the US they are breaking the law and they charged their executives, too. It happens everyday.
I think they showed how much they cared about Carruthers when they fired him.
Bottom line, the British running the place in CR and the Directors in the UK are soiling their pants. They are scared of being next and at the same time they are scared of destroying the company from within. So far they have chosen option two, destroy the company from within. Closing their doors was the dumbest thing they could have done, particularly now that we learn they were never even served (according to them).
They are trying to beat the TRO on a technicality. A TRO that they are VOLUNTARILY complying with in part. The one part they are not complying with is the part about returning funds to the players.
Since all of this is voluntary on BOS's part, they need to allow players access to their funds. Right now they are in a stiffing mode. If you have the money there right now you are being stiffed. There is no excuse for them not to pay YOU.
It's time for BOS to decide which way they want to go, stay open and fight or close?

What's it going to be?

-- EOG

BetOnSports case illustrates challenges of going after Web gambling
By Associated Press
Friday, August 4, 2006 - Updated: 07:37 AM EST

ST. LOUIS - When federal prosecutor Marty Woelfle went before a judge this week to lay out her case against an online gambling firm, she faced a daunting legal challenge from the company. No one bothered to show up.

There would seem to be good reason for BetOnSports PLC to send attorneys to Missouri. The firm is facing a 22-count indictment on fraud and racketeering charges filed in St. Louis. The chief executive is in jail, and the company faces a restraining order barring it from operating in the United States.

But with headquarters in Costa Rica and other offices in Antigua, BetOnSports was advised it didn’t have to respond to charges filed in a U.S. court, Woelfle told U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson.

Industry executives and legal experts are closely watching the prosecution in St. Louis as a key test case in the U.S. government’s effort to crack down on Internet gambling, which collects roughly $6 billion domestically every year - about half of the worldwide take.

“This may very well signal that the (U.S.) Justice Department is going to allow the U.S. attorneys to take this issue much more seriously than they have in the past,” said William Eadington, director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno.

If the BetOnSports prosecution is successful, it could change the industry landscape, he said.

“You basically have a very chilling effect on the entire U.S. segment of the market,” Eadington said.

But the BetOnSports case also reflects the difficulties prosecutors face in going after a business that shuttles money from private computers to offshore bank accounts. If the prosecution stumbles, it could encourage online gambling firms based in countries like England, where the industry is legal.

“What has made it difficult is that these businesses have been structured to avoid prosecution,” said U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway, who is leading the case against BetOnSports.

Taking the company to court is no simple matter. Executives live in countries like Costa Rica that make it difficult to extradite defendants to the United States. Even serving routine court papers is a headache involving international treaties.

Hanaway said she is pursuing the case against BetOnSports and other companies associated with online gambling because all those billions of dollars flowing out of United States escape excise taxes. Not only does that rob the U.S. Treasury, but it could foster other illegal activity.

“Because the industry is illegal and unregulated and very large amounts of cash are transferred, it has the potential to create other problems,” Hanaway said.

The flow of online gambling cash has been growing with relatively little fanfare over the last few years. But in June, the U.S. House passed a bill that would ban credit card companies from processing online gambling transactions. The bill awaits Senate approval.

In light of the House bill, the St. Louis indictment is akin to the other shoe dropping.

David Carruthers, chief executive of BetOnSports, was arrested during a layover in Texas as he flew from London to Costa Rica. He appeared at a hearing Monday in St. Louis handcuffed and in shackles. He remains in custody awaiting terms of his bail.

Besides Carruthers’ arrest, the Justice Department has won a temporary restraining order against BetOnSports, barring it from taking U.S.-based bets. The company appears to be complying.

“This is the first time that I have ever seen that,” said Sue Schneider, president of the River City Group, which publishes an online gambling trade magazine.

She says she’s been getting calls from Internet gambling executives as far away as Germany, England and Asia, all looking for an update on the BetOnSports case. They worry about more restraining orders, and are not likely to make any layovers on U.S. soil, Schneider said.

But this week’s events in St. Louis highlighted the obstacles in tackling online gambling.

Woelfle told Judge Jackson on Monday the government wants to make its restraining order against BetOnSports permanent. But Jackson suggested that couldn’t happen until the company received proper “service,” meaning it received legal filings in a fashion that satisfies U.S. requirements.

Woelfle sounded frustrated. She said BetOnSports fired Carruthers immediately after he was arrested, clouding the issue of whether it was properly served. She said the government would try and serve BetOnSports in its London office, a process that involves complicated international treaties.

For now, at least, the temporary restraining order exists until Aug. 14.

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=151409

I feel like calling Betmill and complaining again today but the last couple of times i have called the guy I get that has agreed and admitted that none of this seems right to him either.So I get nowhere.
Now I have that "gross" feeling of being in the hole before football even starts.Yuck

Cnbc News Report...

August 04, 2006 11:40 PM ET BetonSports tied to mob-linked website


BetonSports, the publicly listed UK internet gambling business, has been linked by US prosecutors to a website that employed associates of New York's Gambino crime family to collect debts.
The website, Bestlinesports.com, used a father and son team in Broward County, Florida, connected to the crime syndicate once run by notorious mob boss John Gotti to gather wagers on sports events and deliver them to Costa Rica, where the website was based at the time, prosecutors in Florida said.
Joseph "Boca Joe" Fafone and Joseph Jr Fafone were convicted on illegal gambling charges over their work for Bestlinesports.com. Prosecutors described the Fafones as associates of Frank "The Bear" Basto, a Gambino crime family member.
Bestlinesports.com was one of a number of websites "belonging to or controlled by" BetonSports and affiliated people and companies, according to the indictment against BetonSports filed by the US attorney's office in Missouri.
The indictment charged BetonSports, Gary Kaplan, its founder, and David Carruthers, its British former chief executive, with racketeering, fraud and other charges.
Bestlinesports.com is also one of the websites placed under a Federal Court restraining order that has barred BetonSports from operating in the US since last month. A spokesman for BetonSports said the company had "a relationship a few years ago [with Bestline Sports], which was a basic landlord-tenant relationship". He was unsure whether the relationship continued.
The Department of Justice has characterised the BetonSports case as part of a continuing effort to clamp down on illegal internet gambling. "This has been a priority for some time," a spokesman said. "This indictment is just one in a series."
The Gambino family link to Bestline Sports was revealed in an investigation by the Broward County sheriff's office, codenamed "Operation Goodfellas", between 2000 and 2002.
The Fafones were prosecuted after helping an undercover detective place bets through Bestline Sports by phone and on the internet, and then collecting debts owed to the website and delivering winnings. The father and son were described as agents for the website in the affidavit for the case. The conviction of the Fafones took place while Mr Carruthers was working for BetonSports.
The prospectus for BetonSports' initial public offering in 2004 states that "David Carruthers joined BetonSports in June 2000 as chief executive officer and managing director of its UK subsidiaries".
This is the second alleged connection to emerge between BetonSports and US mob figures. Last weekend it emerged that another online betting company linked to a separate New York Mafia family, Safe Deposit Sports, had rented office space from BetonSports at its headquarters in San José, Costa Rica. BetonSports denies it has any link to the company apart from once renting offices to it.
In an interview in 2003 with La Nacion, a Costa Rican news-paper, Mr Carruthers denied BetonSports had any involvement with Bestline Sports beyond a subleasing relationship.
Copyright 2006 Financial Times

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=FT&Date=20060804&ID=5925021

Take this for whats it worth..


BetonSports claiming customer monies tied up in processor
BetonSports personnel are reportedly telling people in Costa Rica that customer monies are tied up with its payment processor and that this party is yet to make a payout, hence the reason payments to players have not been occurring. A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri returned a 22-count indictment on July 17 charging 11 individuals and four corporations on various charges of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud, the Department of Justice announced today.
BetonSports PLC, a publicly-traded holding company that owns a number of Internet sportsbooks and casinos, was among the companies charged in the indictment. The founder of BetonSports.com, Gary Stephen Kaplan, 47, was charged with 20 felony violations of federal laws including: the Wire Act, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Conspiracy, interstate transportation of gambling paraphernalia, interference with the administration of Internal Revenue laws and tax evasion.
The company's now fired CEO, David Carruthers, was also charged and has been detained in Fort Worth, Texas, after attempting to change flights at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.
The day after the indictments were handed down, BetonSports ceased operating and has failed to pay its customers. They also refuse to properly communicate with customers and have had clerks deliberately mislead them. Meanwhile, this past week, the company demanded payments returned for all advertising including its "gold sponsorship" spot at this year's Casino Affiliate Conference in Las Vegas. That show's organizer has already paid upfront costs for the event

Rumors are circulating around Costa Rica that BetonSports has much of its customers funds tied up in payment processors outside the country. Fears have been expressed that either the U.S. government will attempt to go after the processors or the processors may simply refuse to pay. Third party payment processors that deal with the online gambling sector have a history of scamming these companies.
"G (founder Gary Kaplan) got burned real bad by one of them (processors) while I was there, supposedly they stiffed him for over a million dollars," said a former BetonSports employee who wished not to be identified.
The level is risk is quite high and online gambling companies will often factor this risk into their budget in order to prevent customers from eating any unnecessary costs associated with disreputable payment processing firms.
"What the sportsbooks do is process as much as they can as fast as they can till the card companies catch on, then they move on to another processor," commented the employee.
Many credit card issuing banks will not allow transactions for online gambling, but via the web, credit card usage is higher than any other form of payment options. Therefore utilizing these types of establishments becomes a necessary evil.
BetonSports is known to use a number of various payment processors, none of which show gambling transactions when customer credit cards are run through.
But this same employee does not necessarily buy the idea that most money is tied up in payment processors.
"This time of the year, though, there are not that many transactions so I
think it is a lot of bull****. They know they are done and they are
going to abscond with as much as they can. I wonder how much they have
on deposit? If this were football season it would be huge."
htp://www.gambling911.com/BetonSports-Payment-080506.html

Your Letters


08/05/2006

Specious reasoning

Having read the Aug. 1 Business section article on BetOnSports, I find the reasoning of Catherine Hanaway specious and incongruous when compared to the flourishing gambling industry in Missouri and the United States today.

Her argument of the possible use of the funds by "criminal enterprises or terrorism" is stale and growing older. I believe the only problem she and others have with BetOnSports is that the government can neither tax nor regulate it.

I see great similarities between this situation and the unions' claims about Wal-Mart. There we hear how they (the unions) are aghast about the treatment of Wal-Mart employees. All I see is that they are desperate to unionize a very large work force to shore up a continually declining membership, along with its declining political, economic and community influence.

Tom McCrackin

Wildwood

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/bu...C0AB67533829E796862571C0007ABEB8?OpenDocument

Libertarian Party Opposes Ban
4 August 2006


WASHINGTON, D.C. – (PRESS RELEASE) -- As part of House Speaker Dennis Hastert's (R-IL) agenda to force Americans to abide with his moral beliefs, Congress is now trying to outlaw Internet gambling. Hastert listed the prohibition of Internet gambling in his recently announced American Values Agenda.

The House of Representatives already passed H.R. 4411, The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. This attempt to cut off Internet gambling by Americans bans financial payments to offshore casinos. The Senate will be tackling this issue after it returns from its August recess.

The House version of the bill passed by a vote of 317-93. Should the Senate pass the (same general version of) the bill, it would force U.S. financial institutions to cut off payments to the thousands of popular online gambling institutions legally located outside of U.S. boundaries. The bill won't impact state sponsored gambling, such as lotteries and horse racing.

"States have always had the right to approve and regulate gambling within their borders," according to the bill's sponsor Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). "This bill makes Internet gambling illegal except where regulated by the states."

This legislation coincides with the 22-count indictment against eleven people and four corporations for Internet gambling related charges. Among those charged with racketeering, conspiracy and fraud were Gary Kaplan and David Carruthers of BetonSports.com.

Additionally, the World Trade Organization has been asked to settle disputes between the country of Antigua and Barbuda and the U.S. over recent prohibitions to online gambling. According to Antiguan authorities, the U.S. has taken no measures to comply with the recommendations and rulings of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body on the issue.

"It's clear that Hastert and Goodlatte are trying to force their moral views on the entire country. Hastert's already added a gay marriage ban to his agenda," said Stephen Gordon, the Libertarian Party's communication director. "Hopefully, they don't plan to impose blue laws or prohibit alcohol, pre-marital sex and dancing, too."

The Libertarian Party has a 35 year commitment to keeping government out of people's wallets as well as their bedrooms. According to Gordon, this latest move by Congress violates both of these general standards.

http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article.cfm?contentID=160225

appreciate all the updates maxdemo

thank god for the libertarian party